Process of recovering sulfur from sulfur-bearing gases.



P. S. SMITH.

PROCESS OF REOOVERING SULFUR FROM SULFUR BEARING GASES.

APPLICATION FILED'DEO. 3, 1907.

6 MN km R 18 m 10 N 83 W Ffl W WITNESSES:

A TURN/EV;

P. S. SMITH. PROCESS OF REGOVERING SULFUR FROM SULFUR BEARING GASES.

APPLICATION FILED 15110.3, 1907.

Patented Feb. 16, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 W/TNESSES: l/Vl/E/VTOR a h B 4 I ATTORNEYS UNITED SIATES- PATENT OFFICE.

1 am; s," snrrn, or WILMINGTONLDELAWARE, Assreuoa TO THE E. 1. DU PONT DE NEMOU 4 .To all may concern:

BQ B QMPANY, .Q

WILMINQIQN, nELAwanE a oohroRA'noN or-unw lesser.

rnoonss or-nncovnnmq surrrm r-nom SULFUR-BEARING GASES.

Be it known that 1, PAUL S. SMITH, a citizen ofthe .United States, residin at Wilmington, county of Newcastle, an State'of Delaware, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Processes of Recovering Sulfur from SnlfunBearing Gases, of which the followmg LSB. full, clear, and exact description, reference being had-tothe accompanying drawings,which form a part of this.

.specification. ;'v1 a patent granted to me February 11.,

1908, No. 878,569, I have set forth a process I and apparatusfor recovering sulfur from sulfur-dioxidin which producer-gas and watergas is successively formed and the watergas mixed with the sulfur dioxid and the mixed ases heated by the combustion ofthe proucer-gas, thereby causing the mixed gases to react with evolution of sulfur vapor. In said process andapparatus the producer gas and water-gas, alternately formed in the gas producer, are led respectively to storage tanks from which, as required, the twogases are separately led to the reducer. vThis process and apparatus are operative and comparatively efiicient and economical, but the present mvention has for its object to I greatly enhance the efliciency and economyof; theprocess b such modifications therein as will'enaljle the producergas and wateras to; be manufactured continuously instead of alternately, and to be led, immediately upon their formation, to the reducer. "In my prior application, while both watergas and producer gas are led continuously to thereducer, the storage of each gas, necessi tat'ed by the intermittent nature of its manufacture,

causes a drop in its temperature, thus requir ng an ex enditure of a certam amount of energy toe ovate to its temperature of combustion or-'react1on.

My presentinvention; by providing for the continuous. manufacture of both gases; dispenses with the necessityof temporarily fstoring either and permits of both gases being ledinimed-iately to the reducer, thus enabling-the process to be carried on with maximum efficiency and economy.

p In thedrawings: Figure 1 represents a side, elevation, partly in section, of my im- M-ea apparatus; Fig. 2 is a section on the e 2 -2 of Fig. 1.

10 and 100 are two gas-producers or gen:

H Patented Feb. 16, 19 09.

eratorsprovided with grates and lined with fire-brie 11 and 110 are pipes leading from the blast main 12, into which air" is blown by suitable means. the admission of air to the generators 10 and 100 being controlled by the blastgates: 14 and 140, which are operated from. the workingplatform by means of the hand;

wheels 15 an 150. Each hand wheel is congaging a re blast-gate.

19 and 190' are pipes leadin from the. steam header .8, by means of w ich steam under pressure is supplied beneath the grates of. the generators l-Oand 100, these pi es being controlled byvalves 20 and 200 t at are operated from the working platform 9 by means of the floor stands 21 and 210.

I 22 and 220 are covers which are removable for the purpose of charging the generators 10 and 100 with fuel. 7

23 is a retort which consists of a steel shell linedwith fire-brick and provided with in terior fire-brick work arran ed to form two sets of annular passages or c embers 24 and 25, the passages 24 a ternating with the passages 25, and the passages of each set communicatmg one with another alternately. at the to and bottom, thereby affording two. sets 0 staggered passages, the passages of one set being separated from the passages of the other set by a single partition of firebrick. The innermost of 't e passages 25 is of tubular shape and leads to the stack 26. The innermost of the passages 24 communicates, at its lower or outlet end, with the pipe 27, leading to the condensing s stem 28.

29 and 290 are two-way valves, y meansof which the gases from the generators 10 and 100 may be diverted, through the pipes 30 and 300, to the annular pipe 34 at the top of the retort, or through the ipes 31 and 310 to the annular pipe 35 at the bottom of the retort. Each valve 29 or 290 is o erated by means of a hand wheel 32 whose s aft engages a rack on a rod 33 attached to the valve. v I

The annular pipe 34 communicates with the outer passage of the set of assages 24 within the retort, and the annu ar pipe 35 communicateswith the outer passage of the set of passages 25 within the retort.

nected with its corresponding blast-gate by jmeans of a pinion 16 on the hand wheel en? 0 '17 on a rod 18 attached to the working fur.

36 is a pi e leading from the blast main 12 to an annu ar pipe 37 surrounding the annular pipe 35 and having branch injector pipes 38. extending into or through the pipe 35 for the purposeof supplying air to the pas-- sages 25, these ipes being controlled by means of the va ve 39 operated from the platform by means of the floor stand 40. 7

41 is'a pipe leading from a source of supply of sulfur dioXid to the pipe 84.

The following condit1ons are represented in the drawings. The fuel in the generator 10 is being raised to the proper temperature for making water-gas, and the blast from the pipe 11 passes upward through the fuel inthe generator 19, forming producer-gas, whichpasses down through the pipes 31 and 35 to the lower part of the retort 23, where an aux-,H iliary blast of air is supplied by the pipes 38."

By this supply of air, the produceregas is ignited, and in its passage successivel u ward, downward and upward throng the passages 25, the bricks are raised to a bright red heat, the waste gases finally escaping through the stack 26 into the air.

It is assumed that when the blast'is put in operation on the generator 10, as described, for the purpose of bringing the fuel in the generator 10 to the temperature of maximum efliciency for the formation of water-gas, the fuel in the generator 100 has already been brought to a suitably high temperature by similar means.- The'valve 140 has been shifted to close pipe 110 and the steam valve 200 has been opened, admitting steam beneath the grate of'the generator 100, The steam assmg upward through the incandescent ue'l is disassociated with formation of watergas which passes through pipe300 to pipe 34, where it mixeswith thesulfurdiOXid from the ipe 41., Thence the mined gases pass tot e upper part of theretort'and succes sively downward, upward and downward through the passages 24 in contact with thered hot brick-work that has been heated' and is continuing to be heated by the'b'urning producer-gas, resulting in evolution 'of' sul- The sulfur vaporzso formed, together with the other products-20f. the reaction,

water. vapor and carbon monoxid, passthrough the pipe 27 to the condensing system 28, in contact with the cooling'surface of which the hot gases fall to such a temperature that the sulfur vaporcondenses; first to a liquid in the hotter part of the condensing system, and finally to solid flowers of sulfur in the cooler ortions;

It is assumed t at the continued operation of the air blast has restored the fuel in generator 10 to its temperature of maximum efficiency for the formation of watergas. At

the same time the continued production of water-gasin the generator 100 has reduced the temperature of the fuel below the point ,liow of miXe ,gas) through the passages 24 Further, the 11're-brick'.work is'maintained' at a constant high temperature.

relations the reverse of those indicated in the I drawing,; although so far as the retort 23' is concerned, "there is'no interruption of the cont nuous flow ;.of burn1ng producer-gas through the-(passages 25 or of the continuous gases (sulfur dioxid and water If the quantity of more than sufficient to maintainthe firebrick work at the requisite temperature, a part of the-qsame-may be diverted'by any cifically show, or the secondary air-blast may be cut off, thereby preventing the ignition of the producer-gas.

In'an application filed of even date-herewith, No'. 404,889 I have shown and-described another method and apparatus for recovering'sulfur from sulfur d1oXid having certain features in common with the specific method and apparatus hereinbefore described. The

'method set out in the claims herein is a specific embodiment of the process invention common to the two applications, which invention is broadly claimed insaid application No. 404,889.

I do not herein claim the apparatus herein producer-gas evolved is suitable branch pipes, not necessary to spedescribed for carrying out the process herein claimed,' 'as said apparatus forms the subject of a divisional applicationfiled June 10, 1908, Serial No. 437,646.

Having now fully described my invention, I what I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. The process of recovering sulfur from sulfur dioxid which consists in successively manufacturing water-gas in a plurality of separate generators',-leadin g the water-gas formed successively in the several generators and sulfur dioxid to a common point, andheating said mixed gases.

sulfur dioxid which consists in alternately 'n'nanufacturing water-gas andproducer gas ineach of a plurality of separate generators, and simultaneouslymanufacturing water gas in one generator and producer gas'm another, leading the water-gas formed successively in the several generators and sulfurdioxid to a common point, and successively utilizing the producer-gas formed in the several genera- '2. The process of recovering sulfur from water-gas and sulfur dioxid.

tors to produee the heat required for the reaction of the mixed gases.

' 3. The process of recovering sulfur from sulfur dioxicl which consists in manufacturing producer-gas and water-gas in each of a generator and roducer gas in another, conveying the proc ucer-gas formed in each generator to a common point, conveying the water-gas formed in each generator, and the sulfur dioxid, to a common point in proximity to, but separate from, the producer-gas, and burning the latter gas to elevate the temperature of the water-gas and sulfur dioxid, thereby causing a continuous reaction. of

4. The process of recovering sulfur from sulfur dioxid which consists in alternately manufacturing producer gas and water gas in each of a plurality of se arate generators, and sii nultaneously manu acturing producer gas in one generator and water-gas in the other generator and vice' versa, mixing the water gas formed in one generator with sulfur dioxid and heating said mixed gases by means of the heat evolved by the combustion of the producer gas formed in the second generator, and then mixing the water gas formed in the second generator with sulfur dioxid and heating said mixed gases by means of the heat evolved by the combustion of the producer gas formed in the first generator.

- 5. The process of recovering sulfur from sulfur dioxid which consists in producing a substantially continuous stream of water-gas and mixing it with sulfurdioxid in order to utilize the same at substantially its initial heat, and also producing a substantially con-,

tinuous stream of producer gas and conveying and burning it 1n proximity to, but out of contact with, the volume of mixed gases, thereby directly heating the mixed gases and causing them to react with evolution of sulfurvapor.

In testimony of which invention, 1 have hereunto set my hand, at Wilmington, Del., on this 25th day of November, 1907.

, PAUL S. SMITH. lrVit'nesses;

D. COLEMAN BEASTEN, S. J. THoansoN. 

